dbcve.org
Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2019-13485

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-08-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.3.28 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In Xymon through 4.3.28, a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the history viewer component via a long hostname or service parameter to history.c.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A stack-based buffer overflow exists in Xymon's history viewer component (history.c). The vulnerability is triggered by providing an excessively long hostname or service parameter, which overflows a fixed-size buffer on the stack. This could allow remote attackers to achieve remote code execution given the critical CVSS score of 9.8.

MitigationUpdate Xymon to version 4.3.29 or later which contains the fix. If patching is not immediately possible, restrict access to the history viewer component via network segmentation or authentication controls.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0
XymonApplication
Affected:<= 4.3.28

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Xymon installation and version
    Run 'xymond --version' or check the package version with 'dpkg -l | grep xymon' (Debian) or 'rpm -qa | grep xymon' (RPM-based). Also check for /usr/bin/xymon or /opt/xymon directories.
    Affected if The installed version is 4.3.28 or lower, or the package version is below 4.3.29
  2. Locate the vulnerable history.c component
    Search for the history viewer binary or CGI script. Common paths include /usr/lib/xymon/cgi-bin/history.cgi, /opt/xymon/cgi-bin/history.cgi, or check the web root configured for Xymon.
    Affected if The history viewer CGI script exists in a publicly accessible web directory
  3. Verify the history viewer is web-exposed
    Check the web server configuration (Apache, nginx, or Xymon's built-in web server) for CGI or alias directives pointing to the history viewer. Look for entries like 'history.cgi' or 'history' in the web server config.
    Affected if The history viewer is accessible via HTTP/HTTPS without additional authentication barriers
  4. Confirm Xymon web interface is running
    Check if Xymon's web server is listening on port 80 or 443. Use 'netstat -tlnp | grep -E "(80|443)"' or check the Xymon server status page at the configured URL.
    Affected if The Xymon web interface is running and the history viewer endpoint is reachable over the network
  5. Check for installed patches
    If running a Debian package, verify the installed package with 'dpkg -l xymon' and compare the version string. For source installations, check if history.c contains the fix by reviewing the source code or changelog for references to CVE-2019-13485.
    Affected if No patch for CVE-2019-13485 has been applied, leaving the buffer overflow vulnerability unfixed

A user is affected if Xymon version 4.3.28 or lower is installed, the history viewer component is web-accessible, and no vendor patch for CVE-2019-13485 has been applied.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 4.3.28
Interim mitigation

Update Xymon to version 4.3.29 or later which contains the fix. If patching is not immediately possible, restrict access to the history viewer component via network segmentation or authentication controls.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Xymon 4.3.30 or later (Debian 9+ or compile from source)

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed Xymon version using 'xymon --version' or checking the package manager
  2. 2. For Debian 8 (Jessie), check for available security updates via 'apt-get update' and 'apt-cache policy xymon'
  3. 3. If a fixed package is not available in Debian 8 repositories, consider upgrading to a newer Debian release or compiling Xymon from source
  4. 4. Download Xymon source from the official repository (github.com/xymon/xymon)
  5. 5. Compile and install version 4.3.30 or later which contains the security fix for this vulnerability
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the version is greater than 4.3.28 using 'xymon --version'
  7. 7. Test the history viewer component with valid hostname/service parameters to confirm functionality
Caveat Minor - verify custom configurations and monitoring scripts remain compatible with 4.3.x branch

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-13485 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data